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Hocking Valley Scenic 0-6-0 nearing completion
Oh, how fantastic that the former Ohio Power Company 0-6-0 No. 3 is under steam again. I can’t wait to ride behind it with my grandson and tell him of its place in US industrial history.
No. 3 was used at Ohio Power Company’s (subsidiary of American Electric Power) Windsor Power Plant at Windsor, West Virginia just north of Wheeling, on the Ohio River. World War I caused a demand for electricity in the Ohio cities of Akron and Canton. Prior to this time, electric power plants were built in each city and the coal to supply them was brought in by rail from distant mines. American Gas and Electric Company (AG&E) was a holding company in New York City that owned power companies in the Midwest including Wheeling and Canton. AG&E determined that it would be more economical to build one large power plant at a coal mine source and transmit the energy by wire to its user destination than to transport coal (coal by wire).
Consequently, AG&E entered into an agreement with West Penn Power of Pennsylvania to build a large power plant called Windsor Power Plant (at Windsor, WV) near an existing coal mine at Beech Bottom, WV on the Ohio River and named the coal mine the Windsor Power House Coal Company. West Penn Power was to share in the electrical output. Construction on the power plant and the transmission line to Canton, OH began in 1915 and Windsor Plant came on line in 1917. Windsor Plant’s power was delivered over a 55 mile 138,000 Volt transmission line to Canton. At the time it was the highest voltage and longest transmission line in the US if not in the world. Later the line was extended to Akron. It is still in use.
In 1973 Windsor Plant was closed and torn down as it could not meet the new EPA emission standards. Windsor Power House Coal Company continued to operate and its coal was shipped by barge across the Ohio River to Ohio Power’s Cardinal Plant and down the river to Ohio Power’s General James M. Gavin Plant at Cheshire near Gallipolis, OH.